Obit of the Day: Playlist of the Dead 2012
It is time for Obit of the Day’s annual Playlist of the Dead. So listen to the music, read the posts, and remember some incredible talent we’ve lost over the past twelve months. (The glaring exception is the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, for whom I was unable to write a post, but I did put “An Open Letter to NYC” on the playlist.)
January
Fred Milano – original member of Dion and the Belmonts
Johnny Otis – “The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues”
Etta James – Grammy winning R&B legend
February
Whitney Houston - Grammy Award-winning singer
Kathryn McDonald – member of Duke Ellington’s orchestra
Billy Strange – guitarist and songwriter, part of the “Wrecking Crew”
Louisiana Red – blues guitarist
Davy Jones – lead singer of The Monkees
March
Jimmy Ellis – backup singer for The Trammps
Eric Lowen – Grammy Award-winning co-writer of “We Belong”
Earl Scruggs – Bluegrass legend
April
Barney McKenna – last of the original Dubliners
Andrew Love – saxophonist and member of the “Memphis Horns”
Levon Helm – legend of rock and folk, member of The Band
Pete Fornatele – WNEW rock DJ
May
Charles “Skip” Pitts – bass player on “Theme from Shaft”
Donna Summer – disco legend and Grammy Award winner
Robin Gibb – member of the Bee Gees
June
Herb Reed – original member of the Platters
Graeme Bell – “The Father of Australian Jazz”
July
Jon Lord – keyboardist for Deep Purple
August
Scott McKenzie – singer, “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)”
Willa Ward – member of the gospel group, The Famous Ward Singers
September
“Sugar Boy” Crawford – writer, and original singer, “Iko Iko”
October
R.B. Greaves – writer and singer, “Take a Letter Maria”
Bil Dees – co-writer, “Oh, Pretty Woman”
November
Cleve Duncan – member of The Penguins and lead singer, “Earth Angel”
December
Dave Brubeck – pianist and jazz legend
Fontella Bass – singer of 1965 hit “Rescue Me”
You should be able to find the playlist on Spotify under “Playlist of the Dead 2012” or through my account, Josh Eisenberg.
For more Obit of the Day:
Clever idea for a playlist.
Davy Jones of The Monkees was apparently an amateur horse jockey, as these 1996 photos show. Here he is racing at the The Peach Amateur Riders Handicap in Surrey, England. (Getty Images file photos)
Goodbye, Davy: The 66-year-old vocalist, according to reports, died after suffering a heart attack at his home in Florida. Jones became a prominent teen idol in the mid-1960’s as a lead vocalist for The Monkees, and long after the group broke up (in conjunction with the end of their eponymous television show, the reason for their formation in the first place) he continued forging a solo music career. He would work consistently for more than thirty years as a singer, as well as a musical artist, even performing in a Broadway production of “Oliver!” (Photo by Rob Bixby) source
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